Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club used in a fitting service that selects a golf club suited to a golfer.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-16651, filed Jan. 29, 2016, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Description of Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application 2014-144198 (Patent Document 1) discloses a golf club that is used in this type of fitting service. The golf club of Patent Document 1 has a sensor casing in which a sensor, an analog/digital (A/D) converter, a central processing unit (CPU), a wireless interface, and a wireless antenna are housed, and a battery portion that houses a battery. The battery portion is disposed in the grip, and the sensor casing is disposed projecting from the grip end. When a golfer who receives the fitting service (herinbelow simply called a golfer) swings the golf club of Patent Document 1, the sensor in the golf club detects the motion of the golfer during the swing. The golf club of Patent Document 1 transmits the detection result of the sensor by wireless communication to a computer that functions as a data analysis device. The computer analyzes the swing from the sensor detection result that has been received, and displays the result. The fitting service provider (hereinbelow called the fitter), by referring to the swing analysis result obtained in this way, can propose a golf club suited to the golfer.
However, with a fitting service that uses the golf club of Patent Document 1, the fitter and golfer cannot ascertain from the golf club itself the state of the wireless link between the golf club and the computer and the state of a component mounted in the golf club such as the residual battery capacity.
In addition, in the golf club of Patent Document 1, since the sensor casing projects from the grip end, compared to a golf club used for playing golf, the center of gravity of the golf club shifts to the grip end side by an amount corresponding to the projection of the sensor casing (in other words, to the side of the golfer grasping the golf club). For this reason, there is a risk of the golf club of Patent Document 1 imparting a sense of incongruity to the golfer during the swing. Also, since the golf club of Patent Document 1 differs in appearance from a golf club used for playing golf due to the sensor casing projecting from the grip end, there is a risk of imparting a sense of visual incongruity to the golfer.
Moreover, since the sensor casing in the golf club of Patent Document 1 projects from the grip end, there is a risk of impact to the sensor casing, and so there is a high possibility of the sensor housed therein being damaged.
The present invention was achieved in view of the above circumstances, and has as its main object to enable a fitter that provides a fitting service and a golfer who receives the fitting service to be able to ascertain the state of a component mounted in the golf club used in the fitting service.